# Update Pokemon Cries?



## FluffyGryphon (Aug 25, 2009)

Do you think they should update the cries of the pokemon released on the early Game Boy handhelds?

I'm a bit torn on the opinion. On one side, I think the sounds are a bit scratchy from the hardware limitations. It's a bit awkward to have a first-gen pokemon in battle with a newer gen and notice the grating difference in sound quality. It'd be almost the same as if they kept all the old simple-colored or monochrome sprites from the gameboy games.

On the other side of the coin, the sounds are traditional and add to the atmosphere. Not too much, though, but just enough to remind you of where the pokemon came from.


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## Yarnchu (Aug 25, 2009)

Didn't they already do this for the Stadium games? Why can't they use those cries in place of the GB cries?

I am a bit torn on the issue as well, but it would be nice to have some updated cries in the game.


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## Koori Renchuu (Aug 25, 2009)

HOLY HELL FLUFFYGRYPHON'S BACK!  *Throws some gryphnip!*

But yes I do agree on updating the older cries.


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## Murkrow (Aug 25, 2009)

I'd like to keep them; I don't really like the new ones all that much. I'm not sure if it's because I find the old ones more traditional or what. Some new ones just seem to long or not... Pokémony enough.

I can see why updating cries would be good, as they didn't sound as realistic back then due to hardware limitations and it could be compared slightly to not updating sprites between games. But then they're not as important as sprites.

I just wonder, if they get updated, what they'll sound like after. They'd probably attempt to sound as close as the original but also make it sound better, so I don't know. If they do ever do anything like this, they should make the difference between similar cries like Growlithe and Machoke more obvious.


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## FluffyGryphon (Aug 25, 2009)

Rasrap Smurf said:


> I'd like to keep them; I don't really like the new ones all that much. I'm not sure if it's because I find the old ones more traditional or what. Some new ones just seem to long or not... Pokémony enough.
> 
> I can see why updating cries would be good, as they didn't sound as realistic back then due to hardware limitations and it could be compared slightly to not updating sprites between games. But then they're not as important as sprites.
> 
> I just wonder, if they get updated, what they'll sound like after. They'd probably attempt to sound as close as the original but also make it sound better, so I don't know. If they do ever do anything like this, they should make the difference between similar cries like Growlithe and Machoke more obvious.


It's not that they weren't realistic or anything, it's just that they sound like someone jammed an old dial-up modem in their throats... *rolls around in gryphnip*


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## Lady Grimdour (Aug 25, 2009)

Agreed. The cries from GB were classic, but an update wouldn't be half bad.

If they do it a la Final Fantasy with the victory tune. That hasn't changed in decades.


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## Zeph (Aug 25, 2009)

I've been thinking this for a long time. They could do it, but have something in the Options to turn off the 'updated' cries and have the old ones, or something...


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## glitchedgamer (Aug 25, 2009)

As a huge fan of the first two generations, I have to say that I would hate if they changed it. It wouldn't feel right going through a cave and not hearing the infamous cries of Zubat and Geodude. Personally, I like the old cries better. The new ones are weird...they sound so outta place. Honchkrow's flat out scares me. It sounds like a demon going "KRAAAWWW!,"...which is actually pretty cool now that I think about it.

And god no, not the Stadium cries. I HATE those.


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## Frosty~ (Aug 26, 2009)

I'd hate for the cries to be updated. The RBY cries are so nostalgic and they're just about the only things that keep me sane whilst travelling across the ocean or through caves.
However, if the cries were updated so that the Pokemon would speak their names, -then- I would welcome it :3


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## Ruby (Aug 26, 2009)

They should be brought up to date, but there are a hundred better things for the designers to do.


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## DonKarasuMan (Aug 26, 2009)

No. I don't see how the cries could be updated; they're sound effects and only a select few of them are actually musical in a sense (like Mewtwo's and Lugia's), even though they are generally much more tuneful than the newer cries, which although use more up-to-date synths, rely on instrumentation rather than pitch.

I'd like the games to have some aesthetic semblance to their original incarnation (i.e. RBGY) and up 'til now, the 8-bit Pokemon cries are the only ones that come to my mind when establishing that sort of connection.



> However, if the cries were updated so that the Pokemon would speak their names, -then- I would welcome it :3


Then that'd be another thing for America to translate. Even so, I'd like to put Cubone's 'karakara' on repeat :3


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## Thorne (Aug 26, 2009)

Being a recent fan of the games, the older cries burns my ears, in particular Pikachu and Raichu, so yes, I would the cries to be updated.


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## Salazard (Aug 26, 2009)

Maybe just use the same frequencies and patterns and just use newer midi software to create them? Then they'd fit in nicely with all the new cries (of which I'm quite fond of).


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## FluffyGryphon (Aug 26, 2009)

Ruby said:


> They should be brought up to date, but there are a hundred better things for the designers to do.


Yes, other things that the games are lacking badly, I agree... but for right now, since we've gone four generations without much change in the formula, I say a cry update would be simple and welcomed. XD

Of course... I still have every one of the old games, so if I wanna hear the classic sounds, I'll just go play them. :>  Yay for all the fun!


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## Yarnchu (Aug 26, 2009)

Ice the Frosty Cat said:


> However, if the cries were updated so that the Pokemon would speak their names, -then- I would welcome it :3


Ew. Do you really want to hear that obnoxious Aggron cry while fighting one? Well, some of them are actually pretty good, but I digress.

I like the idea of updated synths. Keep's them the same while bringing them up to date.


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## Lady Grimdour (Aug 26, 2009)

> However, if the cries were updated so that the Pokemon would speak their names, -then- I would welcome it :3


No.

That's what made me cringe watching the anime. Pikachu's fine, but everything else is shite.

Anyway, I agree with retaining the original, but refining it.


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## Dewgong (Aug 26, 2009)

eh, i think they should obv. keep the sound of the cries, but maybe update the sound? or just a little... i don't know. it's kinda of hard to decide.

i really like the old cry sounds though.


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## xkze (Aug 26, 2009)

I agree with Grimdour, I'd rather not have the whole "pokemon only say their names" included in the games ever.

I like to think that if the pokemon world were real, pokemon cries would resemble actual sounds and thus would resemble the ingame cries. The whole name-saying thing just seems kind of silly to me.

As for the topic, I dunno. There's no real decent way to update them, at least without them losing familiarity.


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## ultraviolet (Aug 27, 2009)

I think it would be easy enough to remake them without losing the original sounds too much; I mean if they're midi files then all they have to do is rewrite them with newer midi software and possibly tweak them a bit. 
If they updated them then they could also alter the cries of pokemon like caterpie/goldeen and actually make them sound different.


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## Darksong (Aug 29, 2009)

I like the way Pidgey sounded in R/B/Y, because it echoed a little at the end, but since they've changed that, I wouldn't care much about updating the Pokemon cries. Anime cries don't appeal to me much (except the male Nidoran's), so I'm hoping they don't do that. Overall, I just like the older style of Pokemon cries better, especially with the bird Pokemon like Articuno, Spearow and Pidgey.


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## DonKarasuMan (Aug 29, 2009)

ultraviolet said:


> I think it would be easy enough to remake them without losing the original sounds too much; I mean if they're midi files then all they have to do is rewrite them with newer midi software and possibly tweak them a bit.
> If they updated them then they could also alter the cries of pokemon like caterpie/goldeen and actually make them sound different.


But then the cries lose character. The cries have become so classic that it's hard imagining them outside of their 8-bit manifestations, especially those that aren't melodic at all and the pitch of the cry is meaningless. 

Also, you can't really remix a Snorlax cry :/


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## Dewgong (Sep 3, 2009)

DonKarasuMan said:


> it's hard imagining them outside of their 8-bit manifestations


that's just the thing. i've gotten so used to hearing the newer cries like they are, and the older cries all scratchy and old like they always have been. i couldn't imagine them any different...


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## Dannichu (Sep 4, 2009)

I don't want them changed! I like being able to recognise them all ('cept the D/P ones).
When my friends and I get tipsy/drunk, it's our absolute favourite game to flick through the Pokedex, play a cry at random and guess which it is XDD
(we have very exciting evenings in)


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## Bluberry Bat (Sep 4, 2009)

No, never update them, they just won't sound right. D: To be honest I'd be happier if they DOWNGRADED the new ones to fit. And dear gods NEVER MAKE THEM SPEAK. Saying their names is just.. NO NO NO THE SHOW RUINED SO MANY POKEMON LIKE THAT.
The one exception I might make however is some of the first gen lazy dual-cries, add a bit of distinction to them. For example Rhydon and Charizard have the exact same cry, as does Machop and.. something else which I forgot.


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## Darksong (Sep 4, 2009)

L'il Dwagie said:


> as does Machop and.. something else which I forgot.


Omanyte. 

I'd like them to at least be more distinguishable; the only similar cries that I've noticed that aren't the same are Charmander and Charmeleon (Charmeleon's is lower) and Aerodactyl and Vileplume (Vileplume's is higher). 

I also thought it was a big step from the third generation cries to the fourth generation ones. It seemed odd at first for the cries of new Pokémon to sound so... realistic. Pokémon are Pokémon, not animals, so they don't have to be exact; it's just that whenever I hear the cry, I imagine the Pokémon always making that sound...

Am I making sense? Even to myself? o.O


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## Bombsii (Sep 4, 2009)

Yes. Ugh, i'm sick of geodude's plain cry.


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## Thorne (Sep 4, 2009)

Darksong said:


> Omanyte.
> 
> I'd like them to at least be more distinguishable; the only similar cries that I've noticed that aren't the same are Charmander and Charmeleon (Charmeleon's is lower) and Aerodactyl and Vileplume (Vileplume's is higher).
> 
> ...


That is probably because the DS have a lot better sound quality then the GBA.

Oh wait, that was kinda obvious.


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## Jason-Kun (Sep 7, 2009)

Update everything so that they sound realistic. I'd love it if they did that.


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## eevee_em (Sep 8, 2009)

Personally I don't find the older cries out of place, but I think a couple of them would sound better with newer sounds. The only one I can think of offhand is Mew, but I there's at least one other one.


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## nothing to see here (Sep 11, 2009)

The absolute worst thing they could do is replace them with the idiotic "everything says its name" crap from the anime.  I would actually quit buying Pokémon games if they did that.

Stadium-ish "updates" wouldn't too great either.  Some of them were okay, but others sounded pretty stupid.

Probably the best thing to do would be leaving them the same... or maybe set up some of the worse-sounding ones from the first generation to use different "instruments" like the newer ones do.  Especially the nearly-identical ones like Machop/Omanyte and Rhyhorn/Charizard--just changing one of the two to the "new" sound type and leaving the other in "Gameboy mode" would probably fix that problem.  But other than that, no changes.


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## Thorne (Sep 11, 2009)

The ironic thing is that a lot of people have been criticizing the recent games for the old cries.

And here we sit and them like they are.


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